*Based off of the novel: I hunt killers. Jaci (jay-ci) "jac" (Jay-s) Shepard.

CHAPTER 1

The smell of death is something indescribable, and the sight of it was something just as unforgettable. The yellow police tape flowed carelessly in the wind as it lazily, hung around the poles of a near by lamppost, somehow supposedly shielding the police and crime scene from the rest of the world. Even before jaci arrived to the crime scene she could scout the state officials and town police a mile away, quite literally really. They sped down the quiet, neighborhood of seventy-sixth street where she lived in the old Victorian "home", all the way to the old, an abandoned pier in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of her small, town. Jaci mused at the fact that they were actually taking this entire situation seriously, with all the techies and "actual" investigators they had gathered from the nearest city. She could feel her lips curl into a faded, smirk, watching through the most perfect binoculars she could've possibly have brought for this particular stakeout. It was her favorite pair her father had bought her, for reasons for plans that he had told her about time, and time again.

"Hello…what did the little birdie find?" Jaci zoomed in on the crime scene, specifically to where one of the techies had been standing, the digital camera that he had held onto tightly before, taking shots of the scene and surveying the area, dropped to the ground. He covered his mouth in complete horror, hastily turning on his heel as he blew chunks all over the ground below, along with the camera.

The guys in khakis and all the blues rushed to his side in urgency. Jaci stared incredulously as most of them immediately stopped in there tracks, backing up and shielding their mouths as if it was some trending, fad. As if it was a curse, most of them turned away and threw up, the rest just grimaced, pinching their noses and wishing they'd just stayed in bed this morning.

Jaci Shepard already knew what this meant, this wasn't just any crime. It was a gruesome one, more than grotesque, just unfathomable. "Come on, come on. Just…give me something." Jaci knew she wouldn't be able to see "exactly" what they were seeing even with her high tech binoculars, the brush of the cattails and high grass hid anything from this level. To think she had praised the weeds for being such a nifty hiding spot earlier. She wouldn't even be able to hear what they were talking about with the distance between them and the sounds of the ocean slapping together.

She cursed under her breath, now how was she supposed to know just what the hell was going on? Jac suspected that this would be too easy, it was basically handed to her, there's just something about this that didn't sit right with her…Nonetheless, she needed to see what all the excitement was about. If she just got a little height on the sight she would be able to see over the plant life. But no doubt if she stood for a slight second she would be spo-

"Ah ha!" Before she could even think about protecting herself from the voice, Jaci could feel the collar of her shirt being picked up, strangling against the front of her throat. She wasn't really that light, but she was petit with a very athletically, small, build. She was a little over average height but she could tell whoever this was, was taller, bigger and stronger.

Getting caught was not on jaci's list of things to-do. It wasn't as if she was doing something wrong, just watching the police as many people did when they were recording and uploading it all to the Internet. She was hoisted to her feet before making eye contact with her capturer, but she already knew who it was. David Anderson, town sheriff. Also known as, jaci's ex-stepdad, She supposed you could say. See, when jaci's mom and father got a divorce, mom remarried and just so happened to marry the sheriff, at the time he was just a desk jockey, but work pays off. They had a good two long months together before that was wiped away by jaci's loving father, coincidently she just disappeared one day, the day Anderson and everyone else finally, discovered a mass murdered had been right under their big noses. Needless to say good ole dad disappeared too, along with hundreds of other victims he had taken life's from while spending his time in graystone.

"Jac…" his voice was stern and disappointed as his ex-daughter looked at him. 'Thou shan't get caught, until thou wishes to be found.' Her fathers commandments of his own fucked, bible ran through her head. She didn't want to get caught. "You really shouldn't be snooping around here when you know nothing good can come from it…" Whatever he was saying was flowing out one ear and out the other, she couldn't believe her eyes. A god damn new age Jack the Ripper. What jaci saw over the weeds and lying in the sand on the beach could have made a nun swear, and the devil say a prayer.

If she hadn't seen so many dissected human bodies and disfigured people growing up, she probably wouldn't even be able to stand. 'You have to make a statement…or else you won't get noticed, or else they'll just brush it off as a little homicide. It's best to make a good impression when ya given the opportunity to.' Jaci shook away her fathers voice, nowadays it grew more fierce, it sometimes worried her.

"Jac, are you even listening to me?" Anderson chided. She could never take the dark-skinned man seriously. He was hardened and tough, but he was too nice. To her that is.

"Yeah, yeah sure. How did you even find me?" Jaci thought hard, she was sure her hiding spot was full proof. Far away, lots of plant life to cover her, there's no way she could've been seen from the beach.

"Red hair tends to stand out." He retorted back to the seventeen year old.

Right, the one thing she wished she hadn't got from her mom. "I'm not doing anything wrong, you can't take me in for anything you know?" She said folding her arms over her chest. Not than he would actually arrest her, he cares about jaci and that did make jaci dislike him a little less than everyone in Graystone. There were only a couple of people in Graystone that jaci cared about. Her two best friends, Garrus Vakarian, jack nought and her muse Liara T'soni.

"Really nothing? You're hiding in the bushes with binoculars miles away from your house."

"Bird watching is a thing you know."

Anderson shook his head and sighed softly. "Look jac…I know this stuff interests you, but you're always complaining that everyone thinks you're strange. By doing stuff like this only makes you seem that way."

Jaci looked down at the ground, "No, no one thinks I'm strange. They think I'm a crazed psycho like my dad." She looked back at anderson, a serious stare plastered on her face. "And I'm not." 'You know jac, when I was your age, I didn't think I was going to be a killer either, I knew I was, it ate away at me, it was like an instinct that I was denying…like predator and prey.'

David smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder, "I know, how about I let you off with warning, you get back in your truck and forget this all happened."

But jac could just forget. And she wouldn't. It was a body, woman, naked, Caucasian, Mutilated and desecrated. Organs completely hanging out of the body, from the midsection and chest. Almost as if someone was searching for something, or maybe just having a little fun.